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Industry Highlights

Apple watch grew up this week with the much anticipated release of watchOS 2. The new operating system was released on Monday after being delayed by a bug. watchOS 2 brings with it a variety of new features to the smartwatch include new watch faces, and night stand mode. But the most critical update is support for native apps which give developers access to watch face complications and sensors.

Pebble opts for fashion over function in its latest smartwatch, Pebble Round. In an effort to better compete with Apple Watch and a ton of new fashion-focused Android Wear watches such as the stylish Moto 360 2 and Huawei Watch, Pebble debuted its first round smartwatch, which is available in a variety of colours and straps in two different sizes. This is also Pebble’s lightest and thinnest smartwatch yet, but it comes at a cost to battery life. Where other Pebbles can get up to a week’s worth of use on a single charge, Pebble round will only last two days.

VR is hitting the mainstream hard this holiday season thanks to some major announcements from Oculus. Facebook’s Oculus debuted a cheaper, lighter, and consumer ready Gear VR at this week’s Oculus Connect event. The mobile-powered VR headset will cost only $99, and will be ready for sale this Black Friday. In addition to being the cheapest Gear VR to-date, the device also supports the entire new line of Samsung devices including the Note 5, S6 and, Edge. Oculus also announced the availability of a Netflix app for Gear VR along with upcoming apps from Hulu, Vimeo, and Twitch.

Sometimes called the “man from the future” Tom Emrich is a leading voice in wearable technology as an investor, community builder and influencer. His passion for this space is driven by his belief that wearable tech plays a critical role in our human evolution.